Evolution
Follow us @ ocsaevolution
We Change With You
Issue 3
Santa Ana, California
Feb, 2016
OCSizzle:
Film crew
sighted
Sarah Chen
Hayden Lyskoski
Staff Writers
SENIOR SUNRISE - The Class of 2016 enjoys a morning of food, music, and dancing at Senior Sunrise on Dec. 18.
Go to page 3 to read the full story by senior Sara Silberman.
Drill Follows Global Crises
Anthony Castagna
Lee Trueblood
Staff Writers
On Dec. 15, coincidentally the same day LAUSD
closed all campuses
due to an actual bomb
threat, OCSA held an
early Emergency Lockdown Drill in response to
volatile events occurring
in the nation and the
world, including the mass
shooting at the Inland
Regional Center in San
Bernardino.
The morning of Dec. 15,
an email from unknown
persons was sent from an
IP address in Frankfurt,
Germany, to the director of the LAUSD closing
down over 900 schools
in the district. The email
made “relatively specific
and wide-ranging threats
to Los Angeles schools,”
said Brad Sherman a se-
nior member of the House
of Foreign Affairs Committee, as reported by the
LA Times.
Earlier that morning
bomb threats were received, causing the
director of the LAUSD to
shut down all schools for
the day.
On Dec. 2, 14 people
were killed and 22 injured
in a mass shooting and
an attempted bombing
at the Inland Regional
Center in San Bernardino. After that incident,
Dr. Wallace decided to
move up the regularly
scheduled drill.
“We felt it was important to have this training
as soon as possible,” said
Wallace. “We still plan to
have an expanded drill,
much like the one we
had last March after we
return from Winter Break.”
“I was pretty scared,”
said Senior Victoria Vasta (IM), a resident of San
Bernardino. “Nothing
like [shootings and bomb
threats] has ever happened before in that
area,” said Vasta. “It was
really close to my house,
and a lot of businesses
were under bomb threats
including my parents’
work.”
Vasta also added that,
“Roads leading up to
the San Bernardino area
were closed, and for my
schedule I had to go to a
different train station”
In terms of the people
in her community she said
that, “We came together
as a community because
people were calling and
texting each other making sure everyone was
okay and asking how
their parents were.”
Dr. Wallace also added, “I hope [students]
have a solid understanding of what to do in case
of a school lockdown.
More than anything, I
want students to know
that any type of emergency that would result in
a school lockdown would
be a very volatile situation.”
Dr. Wallace, Dean of
Facilities and Supervision, said because the
drill occurred the same
day he, “heard from a
number of students and
parents today, and they
were appreciative that
we would conduct a drill
at such time”.
The drill included a
powerpoint presentation
to all students that told
them what to do in the
event of an actual lockdown.
by Dan St. Marseille (a
distant relative of the new
coordinator), the current
Instrumental Music Conservatory director.
William Wallace, the
dean of facilities and
supervision, stated the first
rounds of interviews were
held on Jan. 15, and second round candidates
had been invited back
the next week. Administrators, conservatory
leadership, teachers, and
parents were involved
in the decision-making
process.
However, reactions
were mixed over whether
the Haners should have
been let go from their position in the first place.
Senior Johnathan
Avolevan (CM) stated
the Haners “saved the
conservatory” and Brian
Haner was the standout
teacher throughout his
years in the program.
“They have to be strict
with kids,” said Avolevan.
“They have to enforce
the rules, but they’re definitely cool people.”
Another Commercial
Music student conceded
the Haners “made a lot of
money [and] were really
good at fundraising.”
At last semester’s Carousel of Dreams, Susie
Haner eclipsed all other
riders by raising $31,800
for the program.
Music Leadership Change
Lily Williams
Managing Editor
On Jan. 26, Rachel St.
Marseille was announced
as the new coordinator
for OCSA’s Commercial
Music program after the
exit of Brian and Suzy
Haner at the end of the
fall semester.The husband and wife team,
who had served since
the beginning of the
2014 school year, were
replaced in the interim
Cont’d on pg. 2
Recently OCSA students, especially those
terrified of being on
camera, could not help
but notice a documentary film crew swarming
the school, capturing
the day-to-day activities
and underlying stories of
its students. For a week
in January, filmmakers
from ABC shot a “sizzle
reel”--test footage for a
potential documentary
chronicling OCSA and
the unique format of arts
high schools in general.
The documentary crew
scoured thousands of
high schools across the
country before coming
to OCSA. They were intrigued by its atmosphere
and uniquity.
“We have been to a
lot of schools around
the country,” said Andy
Genovese, an ABC documentarian and videographer. “It just seems like
OCSA students are very
focused, and the school
is expanding. I just think
you have a great program, and we love the
energy here. ”
Administrators selected over 100 students for
interviews for the potential series. But filmmakers
also caught students
impromptu. “He saw us in
the planter looking quirky
and OCSA is quirky,” said
senior Stephanie Katz
(ACT).
Genovese has an
extensive background
in documentaries and
produced medical documentaries ‘NY Med’ and
‘Boston Med,’ for ABC
that focused on real-life
rigorous surgeries including heart transplants and
other intense life-or-death
situtations.
He described his experience filming OCSA and
the unique environment
embedded on school
campus. “It is exhausting,” chuckled Genovese. “But it is so